the spaces we fill together
by swanfrost
Summary: Gintoki, Katsura, and a little bit of Christmas love. (vietnamese translation available!)


**a/n: written for a gintama secret santa exchange on twitter!**

this fic has been translated to Vietnamese here! please check it out if you can: himatie. wordpress(.com)/ 2017/08/19/translated-fanfic-nhung-khoang-trong-chung-ta-cung-nhau-lap-day/

* * *

the spaces we fill together

"Hey now," Gintoki says, peering over the railing at the figure standing below. He eyes the snow piled up on the Yorozuya sign and wonders how nicely it'll fall. "Don't be loitering around my house. You'll scare all the customers away with your ugly mug."

Katsura blinks up at him, bomb-quick smile flashing against the blinding snow. "Oh, please," Zura cackles, "Who would walk through three feet of snow just to see you?"

Beside him, Elizabeth whips out a sign that angrily spells out _KATSURA KOTAROU WOULD._ She's got a thick, woolen scarf thrown haphazardly around her neck, and is shivering in the morning chill. Gintoki would laugh if he weren't becoming a human popsicle himself.

"BY THE WAY," Zura yells, artfully ignoring his companion, "I have come to visit you this fine Christmas Eve because – "

Before the other man can finish whatever nonsense he's spouting, Gintoki kicks the signboard and snickers when a flurry of white turns Zura's next words into a loud squawk. With a grin, Gintoki peeks at his handiwork: Zura has disappeared under a mound of snow, and only the crown of his head shows from underneath the snowdrift.

"Serves you right for waking me up at this godforsaken hour," Gintoki sniffs, pretending to not see Elizabeth's sign informing him that _IT IS ALREADY 1PM YOU LAZY BUTT_.

Gintoki yawns and absentmindedly pulls his jacket tighter around his shoulders. He's about to return to his (warm, soft, comfortable) bed again when something cold and hard ricochets off his head. With a yelp, he stumbles forward, trips over the doorstep, and falls flat on his face, right in front Kagura.

Curious, she crouches, nudging him with her foot. "Hmm? Gin-chan, what're you doing?" she asks, poking him with her finger. Of course, Sadaharu is right behind her, and decides to give Gintoki a large, slobbery _good morning_ lick.

From below, Zura's obnoxious laugh of _HAHA GINTOKI SERVES YOU RIGHT_ echoes into the house as Kagura notices the melting ball of slush soaking through Gintoki's hair and the floorboards beside his head.

"Oh," she says, and Gintoki can hear the joy in her voice. If he looked up, he'd probably be blinded by a huge, brilliant smile. "It's a snowball fight with Zura! Gin-chan why didn't you tell me? I'm gonna play too!"

Face still pressed into the floor, Gintoki emits a pained groan. He doesn't bother to try and pick himself up as Kagura jumps over him, whooping with delight.

"Zura!" the girl yells, "Play with me!" She catapults over the railing, bare-foot and pajama-clad, nearly crashing into Elizabeth as she lands in the snowdrift.

"Leader," Zura says, bowing respectfully, "I'm glad to see you are well. But you should get dressed properly. I'm sure Gintoki would be worried if you became sick."

Kagura blinks down at her clothes and sneezes without shame. It's only when Gintoki painfully drags himself off the floor and yells, "Kagura! You're going to get sick and die and I'm not going to take care of you!" that she shrugs and clambers back up the stairs. As she rushes through the door, she barrels into Gintoki and places a quick kiss on Sadaharu's head.

"Nuh-uh," she teases, laughing at the way Gintoki slips on the melting ice, " 'Cause I remember you fussing like a nanny when I got sick before! You can't trick me, Gin-chan!"

It takes a scant five minutes for the girl to toss on shoes and a winter coat, and then she's rushing out the door again, hollering at the top of her lungs. Gintoki wearily watches Kagura tackle Zura into the snow and shakes his head, muttering " _youth_ "under his breath.

Gintoki is about to slam the door behind him and curl up underneath his blankets again when, suddenly, another snowball splatters onto his neck and drips down his back. Shocked from the sudden cold, he jumps and accidentally slams his head into the doorframe.

" _WHAT DO YOU WANT?"_ Gintoki yells, whipping his throbbing head around. Briefly, he toys with the idea of drop-kicking Zura to the Shinsengumi headquarters.

"Come join us," Zura calls out, waving. "We're going to make a snowman!"

"Yeah," Kagura parrots, smirking, "Come join your _boyfriend_."

With a scowl, Gintoki considers the scene in front of him: Kagura and Zura, all rainbows and sunshine, meticulously creating a base for their snowman; Elizabeth, to the side, cheering the duo on with inspirational quotes scrawled across her signs. He glances behind him and thoughtfully rubs his chin.

Then, Gintoki bends over to scoop a handful of snow and presses it into a sturdy snowball. He squints, licks his lips, and aims.

Zura's screech reverberates through the chilly December air, and Kagura falls into the snow, clutching at her sides in laughter.

"Take that, _boyfriend_ ," Gintoki cackles, leaning over the railing to soak in his accomplishments. But Zura takes it all in stride, gracefully wringing snow crystals out of his long, black hair. He still smirks up at Gintoki though, like he knows something Gintoki doesn't, and Gintoki is about to open his mouth to ask when –

Something large and furry nudges up against Gintoki's back, and before he can react, he's tumbling over the railing and into Kagura's snowman. Sputtering, Gintoki heaves himself out of the snowdrift and glares at Sadaharu, who is thumping his tail onto the floor with zeal.

"See, Gin-chan?" Kagura says with the infinite wisdom of a fourteen year old, "Sadaharu knows best."

"The dog – " Gintoki wheezes, but his complaints falter as Zura leans over him, reaching out a hand. Grumbling, Gintoki decides to cut his losses and accepts it, cracking a smile at the gloves Zura dangles in front of him.

"Gintoki," he says, faintly amused, "Your hands are cold."

"Well, I didn't exactly have time to prepare, did I?" Gintoki replies with a gruff expression, but his voice is all soft around the edges, and Zura only laughs and laughs.

Elizabeth tells him, _WELCOME TO THE PARTY!_

* * *

Gintoki is in the middle of rolling a snowball for the snowman's middle section when Shinpachi finally arrives, wheezing like he'd just run a marathon. Otae, standing by her brother, seems to be in much better shape. Their boots are soaking wet, and clumps of snow are stuck onto their pants. Kagura excitedly leaps up to hug the new arrivals, proudly introducing them to her snowman.

Gintoki squints. "The heck you're here for?" he asks, craning his neck to look at the trail of footprints the siblings had left behind. "The snow's pretty deep for you two to have walked all that way."

 _OUR HOUSE IS FURTHER_ , Elizabeth complains, to no avail.

"Well," Shinpachi says with a small smile, "It's Christmas Eve! You and Kagura and Katsura-san are our family too."

Surprised by the mention of his name, Zura looks up from his frenzied patting of the snowman's base and beams in acknowledgment.

"See, Gintoki?" he preens, " _Someone_ appreciates me."

Gintoki only rolls his eyes and snipes to Shinpachi and Otae, "Don't just stand there then, get busy! We've got a snowman to build!"

With all five working together, the snowman is made fairly quickly. Even though Kagura "accidentally" destroys it a couple of times, Gintoki still feels a sense of immense pride and accomplishment when he pats the last bit of snow onto the snowman's forehead. It winks at him with black button eyes as he nods in approval.

"The most productive thing I've done all year," Gintoki remarks, but is rudely cut off by Zura's ugly snort. Gintoki whips around to glare, but Zura is looking into the distance with an expression of pure innocence.

"You wanna _fight_?" Gintoki growls, but Zura just laughs harder.

Elizabeth, the ever helpful friend, flashes an encouraging _FIGHT! FIGHT! SNOWBALL FIGHT!_

At the mention of _snowball fight_ , Kagura's eyes _shine_. "I will win," she declares solemnly, and without warning, hurls a tightly-packed snowball into the back of Shinpachi's head. With a resounding _splat_ , the snowball falls from Shinpachi's head, wet snow soaking his hair and dripping down his collar.

" _Why you –_ "

And so it starts.

Zura immediately grabs Gintoki, proclaiming something about _the ultimate team_ , even though he'd just been teasing Ginoki earlier, but his joy is cut short when Gintoki cackles madly and flips him over the shoulder.

"Every man for himself," Gintoki says, and from then on, it's nothing but utter chaos _._

* * *

Later, Zura nudges him in the shoulder and says with a shining smile, "This is fun, right?"

The two of them are sitting on the doorstep to Otose's snack bar, blowing on steaming mugs of hot chocolate cupped in their hands. Full of energy, the children are still chasing each other around, ringing laughter echoing in the bright December afternoon. Gintoki leans against the door, gaze wandering up, toward the smoke-gray winter skies.

Gintoki responds with a _humph_. "I'm cold and wet," he grumbles, "How could I be having fun?" Still, he can't keep the small, fond smile off his face, and Zura laughs at Gintoki's obvious lie.

Without warning, Zura leans his head on Gintoki's shoulder. "Well," he says, unbothered by Gintoki's apparent pessimism, " _I'm_ having a lot of fun."

"Yes, yes, because that's all that matters."

"It is."

At this, Gintoki kicks a clump of snow onto Zura's pants, and the two of them dissolve into loud, splitting laughter. Zura leaps up with a howl and tackles Gintoki into the snow, and they wrestle, like children, hot chocolate set aside and forgotten. It's only when they hear the tell-tale _whir_ of Otose's old camera do they know they've been caught, red-handed, but no amount of Otose's gentle teasing can keep the big, fat grin off of Gintoki's face.

* * *

After Gintoki has wrestled Kagura into bed, tucked the covers under her chin and promised that Santa would come tonight, he meanders into the living room. He finds Zura curled up on the couch, half dozing off and half watching some late-night soap opera. With a tired sigh, Gintoki sinks down onto the couch beside Zura and winces at the way his muscles throb.

"I am way too old for this," he grumbles through a jaw-breaking yawn. Next to him, Zura simply hums in acknowledgment. He's all wrapped up in blankets – courtesy of Gintoki – and his hair is piled in a ridiculous bun atop his head, still wet from showering. In the low dim of the television's light, Gintoki can see the nape of Zura's neck, soft and pale against the darkness of the room. Impulsively, he reaches out to slip an arm around Zura's waist, leaning his head against the other's shoulder.

"Excuses, excuses," Zura sniffs, absent-mindedly leaning into Gintoki's touch, "I didn't see you complaining when you were chasing your kids around, threatening to bury them in the snow."

"Not my kids," Gintoki mutters, even when Zura scoffs. But, he doesn't deny the other part of Zura's gentle accusation, so Zura smugly counts that as a win.

They fall into an easy, sleepy silence, the low hum of the television filling up white noise between them. As Zura is about to doze off, Gintoki suddenly stirs, lifts his face from Zura's shoulder.

"This morning," Gintoki says, "What were you going to say?"

Zura squints, yawning. "What are you talking about?"

Somehow, Gintoki finds the energy to roll his eyes. "This morning, when you woke me up. Remember? You were standing outside my house, screaming your head off."

Sleepily, Zura draws his knees in, rubs his face. "Hmm," he says, pausing in thought. "I don't remember. I guess it wasn't that important after all."

Gintoki frowns. "Really," he hums, a little bit disbelieving. But Zura isn't paying attention to him anymore; instead, his gaze is drawn to the flickering television screen. The channel's been changed to a Christmas countdown, and when Gintoki squints, he sees that the thirty-second mark has just passed.

" _20, 19, 18, 17,"_ the announcers chant.

"Hey," Zura says, suddenly, straightening.

" _10, 9, 8 –"_

"Yeah?"

Zura's smile is gentle, moonlight and television shine throwing soft shadows over his face. He lifts a hand to brush strands of stray hair out of his eyes, turns so he's facing Gintoki.

" _2, 1 – "_

"Merry Christmas," Zura whispers, and leans up, up, up.

Their lips meet as the bells begin to chime, soft and warm and full of love.

* * *

 **a/n: happy holidays to everyone! if you enjoyed this, please leave a review on your way out!**


End file.
